The proudest thing for any team is to set an example for the next era. It appears that Emma Hayes‘ USWNT has been successful in doing it, as the US women’s U20 team seems to have taken inspiration from their Olympic glory. The young Yanks made one of the greatest comebacks in youth soccer against Germany in the Under-20 World Cup, where they came back from two goals down in stoppage time to pull off an absolute heist.

Ally Sentnor, the captain of the team, couldn’t be any prouder of the win against Germany. “That was one of the craziest matches ever played in my life and like I said so proud. I’m so happy we’ve cemented this in US Soccer history and we’re just trying to follow in the footsteps of the full team and really just make them proud, make US Soccer proud, and make USA as a country proud,” said the striker crediting senior team as an inspiration and revealing the intention to make everyone proud.

Sentnor, who was picked by the Utah Royals in the NWSL draft last year, has already revealed that she wants to be at the senior team’s World Cup one day, and against Germany, she showed why she’s capable of playing at the senior level. The 20-year-old sealed her team’s destiny scoring the most dramatic goal of the tournament.

All hopes looked surrendered when Germany was 2-0 up in the first minute of stoppage time. And it kept slipping away. From the 8 minutes of additional time, 7 were gone, but eventually 90 seconds were enough for Jordynn Dudley and the captain to score two goals. Only US Women’s soccer can boast of such a winning mentality which Emma Hayes rekindled during the Olympics.

US under-20 displays a similar mentality to Emma Hayes and her crew

Coming into the Olympics, Emma Hayes and her team were under immense pressure, due to the last World Cup debacle. But, Hayes revealed that her team needed to play differently and required a ‘huge amount of heart, determination, perseverance, grit and resilience,’ to create even half a chance.

This exact spirit was echoed by Sentnor who stated that her team had, ‘the heart and the grit.’ She couldn’t put into words what they did in stoppage time against Germany. Earlier, the USA had fought hard against Mexico as well in the last game, winning with Dudley’s injury-time goal. But it was probably not as dramatic as the match against Germany.

Now, the Yanks move to their toughest challenge. The work is just half done as the upcoming challenge will test their determination and mental prowess. They will face North Korea which has created havoc in the tournament. The Asian team has scored a staggering 23 goals in 5 matches taking on the best of the teams.

Nevertheless, the Stars and Stripes Under-20 have the mettle and will want to take revenge for the 2016 semifinals. Can they produce another determined performance against DPR? Give your scoreline predictions in the comments below.